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PEACE OR WAR ? 



OR 



THOUGHTS 



ON 



OUR AFFAIRS WITH ENGLAND. 



JSY JAMES CHEETHAM, 




NEW-YORK: 

P^'^SHED BY MATTHIAS WARD] BOOKSELLER) 

No. 149, Pearl-Street. 
1807. 



^ 



CS] 



25795 




PEACE OR WAR? 



1 HE President's message, neither warlike nor pa- 
cific, unavoidably leaves us, as it found us, in a state 
of incertitude, as to our differences with England. 

Nor is it (for it could not be) more satisfactory 
with regard to the most prominent feature in the 
misunderstanding which now interrupts the harmony 
of the two nations. 

Adverting to the project of the commercial treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain, which 
with sufficient cause the President peremptorily, and 
without referring it to the Senate, rejected, the mes- 
sage says — 

" Some of the articles proposed might have been 
" admitted on a principal of compromise, but others 
'' were too highly disadvantageous ; and 710 sufficient 
*' provision was made against the principal source 
** of the irritations and collisions which were constant- 
" ly endangering the peace of the twonations^ 

I understand this principal source of irritations and 
collisions to be the inustering of our crews, and the 
impressing of such of our seamen on board our mer- 



4 

chant ships, as the visiting power chuses to deno7ninate 
British ; which Great Britain claims as a right, 
but which we resist as a wrong. Let us examine 
the claim. 

The practice of searching neutral merchant-ships 
at all, has no foundation in right : it is dictated by 
belligerent convenience, and enforced by power. 

All writers on the maritime code lay it down as 
an incontestible principle of primitive and universal 
law, that the sea is the common of all nations ; no 
one possessing exclusive or superior jurisdiction over 
it, but all having, M'hcther great or small, strong or 
weak, an equal right to an equal participation in its 
advantages, without hindrance from any. Whence, 
then, seeing that if all nations were always at peace, 
interruptions upon the ocean could not of right hap- 
pen, do belligerent parties derive the custom of stop- 
ping and searching upon the high seas neutral mer- 
chant ships ? Not, as is evident, from the universal 
law, >\hich forbids molestation ; which in the nature 
of things is inherent and unchangeable ; which is the 
same in China and in England, in France and in the 
United States, and to which nations may at all times 
recur ; but from circumstances adventitious and ex- 
trinsic ; from submission, dictated by weakness on 
the one side, and from assumption, prompted by 
power and pillage on the other. Such is the founda- 
tion of the conventional law, which it is admitted 
exists, and by which belligerents exercise tyranny 
over neutrals. 



But although the conventional law, imposed upofi 
the world for the advantage of warring powers, au- 
thorises search, I know of no writer on the law of 
nations, and I venture to say that there is not one, 
who extends it to the crexv of a neutral merchant- 
ship. 

*' A belligerent power has a right, even on a free 
<' sea, to bring a neutral vessel to, and insist on a 
" proof of her neutraUty :' Martens, p. 319. 
What neutrality ? he himself states. 
" A power at war," he observes, " having a right 
<' to hinder its enemy from reinforcing itself by the 
** reception ai warlike stores, necessity may authorise 
" it to prevent merchandise of this kind from being 
*' conveyed to the enemy by a neutral power" — p. 

317. 

The right of search is by Martens expressly li- 
mited to contraband of war, carried by a neutral to 
the enemy of the visiting power. 

The celebrated Azuni, who, WTiting under the 
patronage of the emperor Napoleon, has, on this sub- 
ject, carried his ideas farther than any other writer 
on maritime law, confines the right of search to ene- 
mies, on board a neutral merchant-ship, who are ac- 
tually in the service of the enemy ; to enemies' goods, 
and to contraband of -war. 

" The conventional law of Europe, in authorising 
" belligerents to prevent neutrals from carrying goods 
" contraband of war to an enemy, to capture the ves- 
" sels of enemies, and even to seize those under a 






" neutral flag-, must also have given the power of 
*' using all the means best adapted to facilitate the 
*' exercise of their risrhts." 

** No means are more efficacious for this purpose, 
" than to stop and search vessels on the high seas. 
" This proceeding is commenced by giving a signal 
to approach with a speaking trumpet, or by firing 
cannon loaded with powder only." " Neutrals, on 
" their part, ought to permit this lawful and custo- 
" mary proceeding, and furnish to belligerents all the 
*' proofs which they have a well founded right to re- 
*' quire by force." " Since it has no other object in 
" view than to ascertain the neutrality announced by 
*' the flag, and the innocence of the cargo^ or that no 
" contraband goods, or goods belonging to enemies, 
" are on board." Johnson's Azuni, Vol. II. p. 201, 
2, 6, 7. 

But in exercising this conventional right of search, 
England has, in relation to us, and I believe to us 
only, transcended all the rules laid down by all the 
writers on maritime law. From searching for con- 
traband of war, for enemies, actually in the service 
of the enemy, and for enemies' property, she has pro- 
ceeded, in the presence of their vexed commanders, 
to muster the crews of our merchant-ships, to sub- 
ject them to humiliating examinations, and to take 
of them by force those whom the visiting officer has, 
in the wantonness of fancy, or assurance of fact, de- 
nominated " British subjects." This is that "/?rm- 
ripal source oi ivntat'ions and collisions" to which the 
message alludes ; it was so under the administration 



of General Washington, and it has been so from the 
beginning of the war with France in 1793 to the pre- 
sent moment. To this flagrant and enormous viola- 
tion of our flag, we have hitherto submitted with a 
patience of which no equal can be found in the his- 
tory of suffering nations. 

These irritating assemblages and wrongful im- 
pressments are claimed and exercised by Great Bri- 
tain on board our neutral merchant-ships, in vio- 
lation of natural right and national law. England 
founds the right, for so she terms it, on the assumed 
and slavish doctrine of indissoluble and perpetual al- 
legiance, as if expatriation, change of country, and 
therefore of allegiance, is not as ancient, and will not 
be as immortal as man and government. Blackstone, 
the oracle of English law, thus sums up the doctrine 
of non-expatriation. 

" An Englishman, who removes to France or to 
" China, owes the same allegiance to the king of En- 
" gland there as at home, and twenty years hence as 
" well as now." Tucker's Blackstone, Vol. I. part 
2, p. 369. 

He may by the laws of England, operating within 
her own limits and jurisdiction, owe such allegiance, 
but when, without her limits and jurisdiction, those 
laws clash with the laws of another state, equally 
sovereign and independent, the misunderstanding 
which may from thence arise between the two na- 
tions, is to be settled, not by the laws of England 
operating coercively on those of the United States, 



8. 

nor by the laws of the United States operating coer- 
cively on those of England, but by a third power, 
an impartial and competent umpire — the law of na- 

tio?is. 

On this point, Vattel, who deservedly ranks among 
the first of the elementary writers, is full, explicit, 
and clear. Speaking of a man's country^ he says — 

" The term country seems to be very well under- 
" stood by every body. However, as it is taken in 
" different senses, it may not be unuseful to give it 
" here an exact definition. It commonly signifies the 
" state of which one is a member ; and in this sense 
*' we have used it in the preceding paragraphs, and 
" it ou^Jit to be thus understood in the law of na- 

" TIONS. 

" In a more confined sense, and more agreeably 
" to its etymology, this term signifies the state, or 
*' even more particularly, the town or place, where 
" our parents lived at the moment of our birth. In 
" this sense it is justly said that our country cannot 
" be changed, and always remains the same, to what- 
" soever place we remove afterwards. But, as se- 
" veral lawful reasons may oblige him to choose ano- 
" ther country^ that is, to become a member of ano- 
" ther society, so when we speak in general of the 
" duty to our country, we ought to understand by 
" this term, the state of which a man is an actual 
<' member^ since it is that to which he owes it entirely y 
" and in preference to all others.'' Vattel, New- 
York editign, p. 113. 



9 

A Britiiih-born subject then may, accordin^^ to the 
law of nations, if not to the laws of England, /aw- 
fully leave his country, throw off his natural alle- 
giance, and become a member of another society ; 
to which, having so become a member, he owes 
entire allegiance. It is upon this principle of natu- 
ral right and national law, that our naturalization act 
stands. 

And Great Britain recognises the same principle 
when it favours herself, although she disallows it 
when it operates against her. She acknowledges the 
right of expatriation from other nations to herself, 
but denies it from herself to other nations ! Her 
own laws^ bottomed, in this regard, upon the law of 
nations, naturalizes the subjects of other countries, 
and her force protects them when they are naturalized* 
Blackstone says — " Every foreign seaman, who iri 
" the time of war serves two years on board an Eng- 
*Mish ship, is ipso facto n aturalized,^^ " and all 
*^ foreign protestants who shall have been three 3^ears 
*' e-Yiployed in the whale-fishery, shall be naturalized 
*' to all intents and purposes as if they had been b o r jt 
** WITHIN THIS KINGDOM." — Tuckcr's Biackstouc^ 
Vol. I. part 2, p. 375, 6. 

Sufficient, perhaps, has been said to establish the 
fact, which no man it seems to me can either mis- 
conceive or resist, that by the laws of England, as 
well as by the law of nations, the rights of expatria. 
tion and adoption are complete. With, therefore, a 
very few adcUtional sentences in illustration of the 

B 



10 

great wrong committed by Great Britain, and for 
many years, murmuringly indeed, suffered by us, I 
tvill take my leave of this branch of the subject. 

If the naval officers of Great Britain were to step 
upon our shore ; to come, for example, into this city, 
assemble our citizens,examine who among them were, 
in the opinion or according to the caprice of the visit- 
ing officer, British subjects, and to take away by force 
such as they pronounced to be so, every man with his 
eyes open, would see the outrage, and instantly and 
•with effect resist it. In this assertion I am not mis- 
taken. There could in such a case be no variety of 
opinion, no difference of feeling. 

And why would this be an outrage ? Can any 
other answer be given than because it would be a 
barefaced violation of our sovereignty, which pro- 
tects alike, within its limits, the alien and the citi- 
zen. 

Now it is a first principle in municipal and national 
law, a principle which has never been either denied 
or questioned, even by Great Britain herself, that a 
merchant- ship is in law and fact, and to all intents 
and purposes, a part of the sovereignty iuid territor}'' 
©f the nation to which she belongs. W'hat differ- 
ence then is there in point of right, between mus- 
tering the crew on the deck of a merchant-ship for 
inquisition and impressment, and assembling our ci- 
tizens on shore for the same purposes ? There is 
none. The conventional right of search, for contra- 
band of war ; for enemies, and for enemies' proper- 



11 

■ty, to which it is limited, does not Inchide the insult 
of mustering the crew of the neutral merchant-ship, 
and the wrong of taking away her sailors by force. 

But although the practice of England, every day 
becoming more oppressive, is justifiable cause of 
war, yet the President, administering the govern- 
ment as far as he consistently can according to the 
opinions and wishes of the people, was willing to 
continue the long protracted negotiation on the sub- 
ject of impressments. 
^' Still anxious," he says, in his late message, *' not 
*' to close the door against friendly adjustment, new 
" modifications were framed, ^w^ further concessions 
" authorised, than could before* have been supposed 
" necessary : and our ministers were instructed to 
*' resume their negotiations on these grounds." 

On what points of differenceywrMer concessions were 
authorised, we are not exactly told, although I think it 
is obvious enough, from the sentences in the message 
immediately preceding the passage just cited, that 
they have no reference to the merely commercial sti- 
pulations of the rejected treaty. " Some of the arti- 
*'■ cles proposed, "the President observes, ''might have 
*' been admitted on a principle of compromise ; butoth- 
" ers were too highly disadvantageous.'''' There could 
have been no need of concession in the instance of the 
articles which, on a principle of compromise, to which 

* Before the project of the comtnercial treaty ^T^^s returnad 
^0 England. 



12 

the President seems to have been disposed, were ad- 
missible ; and surely concessions were not authorised 
in the other case ; that in which the stipulations were 
" too highly disadvantageous^ We are therefore 
unavoidably led to the conclusion that the authorised 
concessions relate to impressments only. 

And how has this pacific temper, this spirit of 
compromise and concession, so agreeable, it would 
seem, to the opinions of our citizens, been met : I 
will not yet say by the government of England, but 
by the Admiral commanding her naval forces on the 
Halifax station ? I pass over without comment, as 
having been somehow settled, but no one can tell how^ 
the murder of Pierce, a citizen of the United 
States, by captain Whitby, of the Leander, within, 
as testified by all our witnesses, our territorial limits; ' 
for which no reparation has been made, no satisfac- 
tion rendered ; not even that of knowing the evi- 
dence on which Whitby was honourably acquitted of 
the foul deed. How, I repeat, was this great inclina- 
tion to peace on the part of the President met by Ad- 
miral Berkeley, who may have had instructions from 
his government to proceed as he did ? As if to try 
how deep we could sink in the abyss of humiliation 
and suffering, a fresh outrage was committed, one 
which, although not differing in principle from the 
mustering and impressing of the crews of our mer- 
chant-ships, electrified our feelings, brought harmo- 
niously together jarring and dissonant parties, and 
excited in all an ardent desire to end bv a noble re. 



13 



sistance the regularly ascending and multiplied 
wrongs which wc had suffered from the navy of Eng- 
land. The reader will perceive that I allude to the 
attack made on the Chesapeake by the Leopard. 

Admiral Berkeley's instructions to Humphries, 
commander of the Lt opard, a 50 gun ship, directed 
him to bring to out of the limits of the United States, 
tlie Chesapeake, one of our national ships, of 44 
guns, commanded by Commodore Barron, and to 
search her for men alleged to be British sailors, and 
deserters from the force on the Halifax station. In 
case search was refused, the instructions directed 
the employment of force. The Chesapeake was ac- 
cordingly brought to, and search demanded, but not 
complied with. Upon the refusal, the Leopard potir- 
ed several broadsides into the Chesapeake without 
meeting with the least resistance ! Having with 
coolness, but inactively, stood on the quarter-deck 
while the Leopard discharged her broadsides. Com- 
modore Barron struck his colours, when the Leopard 
ceasing to fire, boarded the Chesapeake, mustered 
her crew, and took from it four men alleged by the 
visiting officer to be British subjects. 

This great outrage, committed upon an armed ship 
of a nation at peace with England, is unattended by 
a single circumstance of palliation. 

It is, however, urged by the apologists of the ag- 
gression in Boston, where, and where alone, they 
seem to be numerous, and as clamorous as they are nu- 
merous, and particularly by the anonymous author of 



14 

the pamphlet under the signature of a " Yankee Far- 
mer," that the sailors, not those who were actually 
taken from the Chesapeake by force, but those who 
were erroneously suj^poscd to be on board when the 
force was employed, were 

1. British subjects. 

2. Deserters from the British Iket on the station. 

3. That our government knew that they were 
British subjects and deserters. 

4. That the British minister applied to our gov- 
ernment for the men, who replied that they had on a 
former occasion stated their reasons for not comply- 
ing with the request, and that moreover, the men 
were Americans. From these assumptions the 
" Yankee Farmer" infers, that the outrage was pro- 
voked by the improper conduct of our government. 

I will not detain the reader by a recapitulation of 
the conclusive evidence recently published by our 
government, that the men forcibly taken from the 
Chesapeake were Americajis, for although the proof 
might add to the strength of the case on our part, by 
aggravating the consummate insolence and turpitude 
of the attack, yet since the outrage is precisely the 
same on national principles and national law whether 
the men were British subjects or American citizens, 
deserters or not, I will argue the point on the posi- 
tions assumed by the Boston apologists, that the 
men were British subjects and deserters. 

A national armed ship of a neutral countr}^ is, by 
tlie primitive and universal law, and by the universal 



15 

usages of nations, exempt from search ; and the rea- 
son is obvious. She is allowed to be, from her con- 
nexion with government, without the compass of 
those conventional rules which authorise the search 
of a neutral merchant- ship. There cannot be a pre- 
sumption that she is a dealer in merchandise ; that 
she carries to the enemy contraband of war ; that 
she conceals the enemy, or the property of the ene- 
my. The honour of the government is tacitly pledg- 
ed, and the pledge is received with the fullest as- 
surance by all belligerent nations, that in a national 
ship, none of the causes exists which subject neu- 
trals to search. The person of a British subject and 
deserter on board a national neutral frigate, or on 
board a neutral merchant- ship, is inviolable, and no 
more subject, by the law of nations, to be taken away 
from either hyforcey than frorh neutral land ; and no 
one pretends that British officers have a right to come 
into our city and take hy force their subjects and de- 
serters. The character of the outrage committed 
on the Chesapeake, is therefore not varied by ad- 
mitting that the men forcibly taken from her were 
British subjects and deserters. The fact that deser- 
tion, if not timely and rigorously checked, may ruin 
the British fleet, is one for the consideration of Entr- 
land alone, and she may therefore look to it ; but al- 
though it be a self-evident truth, it does not follow 
diat in the adoption and pursuit of preventive mea- 
sures, she may of right and with impunity commit 
violence on the rijjhts of other nations. 



16 

Having disposed of so much of the argument of 
right as is deemed sufficient, we will tuni to that of 
expediency ; I mean the exp>ediency of suiTendcring 
the men said to have been claimed of our govern- 
ment by the British minister, as British subjects and 
deserters ; premising, however, that in receiving 
ihem into our senice, it was perfectly optional \n itli 
our government and its officers, to inquire, or not to 
inquire, whether they were under any obligation to 
sen c another power ? I would go farther and say, 
that with entire knowledge that they were under such 
obUgations, our right to accept of their voluntary 
engagements, was perfect. Courtesy towards a 
jriendly nation mi^^ht prescribe another course ; 
might, indeed, have induced our government to 
wave the exercise of the r\ght^ and reject appli- 
cations for employment from such persons ; but 
courtesy may be dispensed with. I beg the reader 
not to forget, and that he may not, I here repeat, 
that in wh.it I have said and may hereafter say on this 
point, I admit, contrar}- to the testimony published 
by our government, and my own convictions, that 
the men said to have been claimed by the British mi- 
nister, were British subjects and deserters. 

A question of expediency is always a question of 
option. In requesting the surrender of the men, the 
British minister requested 2. favour. Whether, un- 
der the then existing circumstances of the two na- 
tions, it was politic to give them up, our govern- 
ment was the best judge. It judged, if the " Yan- 



17 

kee Furmer" be correct in his surmises, that it was 
not, and I think that it judi^ed wisely. 

What was our condition? The treaty of 1795, 
generally known as Mr. Jay's treaty, had expired, 
aind we were negotiating^ for a new one upon grounds 
mutually beneficial to the two nations, but, as it now 
appears from the President's message, not with very 
flattering prospects of success. In this state of treaty- 
disconnexion, England continued to heap upon us 
iiisult upon insult and wrong upon wrong, without 
manifesting a becoming disposition to do us justice 
in a single instance. Surely, under circumstances 
like these, it was the business of our government to 
do all that it could consistently with its neutral cha- 
racter to force England into such a commercial trea- 
ty as we had a right to expect. And if to refuse to 
give up deserters from the British squadron on our 
coast, was to di.-stress England, who will say that it was 
not wise in the President thus to make her sensible 
how necessary it was to come to reasonable terms of 
accommodation with us ? England had no treaty- 
r'lifht to a surrender of the men, and she certainly- 
had no claim to favour. 

But " nations feel power and forget right." Eng- 
land, as we see, could not of r'l^lit claim the men, 
but she had force, and Berkeley thought fit to use it 
in a way most insulting and offensive. 

The attack committed on the Chesapeake was an 
unjustifiable act of war. If made by the direction or 

c 



18 

with the connivance of the government of EnglancJ, 
then, the moment that the fact is officially ascer- 
tained, negotiation should cease, our ministers with- 
draw from the court of St. James, and our govern- 
ment prepare, actively and vigorously prepare, to re- 
dress by arms our own wrongs ; but if the outrage 
■was committed contrary to the orders and intention 
of the British government, ample reparation is not 
only due to us, but, that the British government may 
maintain a due authority over its own officers, it 
should be promptly and cheerfully rendered. Of 
what the reparation should consist, our government, 
to whom is confided the great charge of preserving 
the honour and the interests of the nation, can best 
determine ; but it cannot be less than an unequivo- 
cal disavowal of the right of searching our national 
ships, under any pretence whatever ; a restoration 
of the men, as far as they can be restored, taken 
from the Chesapeake, and the cashiering of Admiral 
Berkeley. Until this be done, and it ought to be 
done quickly, the other points of difference between 
the two nations should remain unnoticed. Full 
atonement is an indispensable preliminary to all other 
discussions. 

On the supposition that such atonement will be 
made. Congress will determine whether, on the 
other fruitful source of irritation and misunderstand- 
ing — the impressing of the crews of our merchant- 
ships — it be expedient to involve the country in the 
ralamiiies of wur. 1 should question the expediency. 



19 

althou_^h I have no doubt of the ri^ht. On a sub- 
ject like this, mutual eompromlses and concessions* 
are admissible. Such was the opinion of the Presi- 
dent, who but a few months before the affair of the 
Chesapeake, directed, as he informs us in his mes- 
sage, a continuance of our negotiations. V\'here 
the honour of a countr}-, the greatest treasure in a 
nation's care, is not, as in this case, directly and 
greatly involved, nor its interests materially affected, 
it would be little less than madness to plunge us head- 
long into war. I would not, like the Parisian orator 
of the revolution, destroy the world to save a prin- 
ciple, for the principle itself might not greatly con- 
duce to our welfare ; but to preserve our honour, 
perpetuate our national independence, promote our 
happiness, and increase our glory, he who would 
hesitate to risk his all, would live without envy and 
die without regret. 

I would not, therefore, shrink from war for the 
calamities which it inflicts, for war is not the greatest 
evil which a nation can suffer. The loss of freedom, 
whether by domestic usurpation or foreign dominion, , 
is infinitely greater. The " pomp and circumstance 
*' of glorious war," are, indeed, accompanied by a la- 
mentable decay of morals, by weeping widows, by 

* In reference to the United States, concessions are mention- 
ed on the presumption that our executive has claimed of the Bri- 
tish government an unconditional relinquishment of imfireasvients 
from the crcivs of our merchmit-shi/ts. Perhaps, on this subject, 
the twcrgovernments may meet each other half way. 



20 

helpless children, and by a never- failing increase of 
debt and taxes ; but what evil is so great, what pang 
so acute, as that which is inflicted by perpetual 
chains ? 

But I would avoid war, for its great and innume- 
rable evils, w here, as in the case in question, the ob- 
ject to be accomplished by it is beyond all compari- 
son less valuable, whether considered in its imme- 
diate or its latent effects, than the preservation of 
peace. 

VV^e have, however, from war, if congress, after 
deliberating wisely on the subject, should determine 
for it, nothing extraordinary to fear. We are a 
young, vigorous, populous, active, and enterprising 
nation. Within, although assailable at some points 
on our extensive coast, we may, when neccssar}-, bid 
defiance to European power and prowess. 

But peace is, undoubtedly, if peace can be main- 
tained upon terms compatible with our honour, the 
substantial interest of the United States. 

What have twenty years of peace and government 
made us ? 

A nation powerful in population, great in enter- 
prize, rich in all that constitutes national riches ; a 
nation which, protesting against whatever may wear 
the aspect of flattery, is truly the admiration if not 
the envy of the world. From being some thirty 3ears 
since the colonies, we have become, as if by enchant- 
ment, the successful rival of the greatest commercial 
nation on earth. 



21 

And this rapid and unexampled progress, made, 
indeed, in twenty years, assures us, with peace, of 
that great point in national power and wealth, of that 
distinguishing elevation of the United States, 
that overtopping of all other nations, to which we 
are destined. Having done so much in a time so 
short, and beginning with a population of not more 
than three millions, what may we not anticipate from 
a twenty years continuance of peace ? 

Our own internal means, and the relations and po- 
licv of England and France, will throw into our hands, 
unless we are determined to reject, an almost com- 
plete and permanent monopoly of the commerce of 
the world. 

Peace between those w-arrins: nations cannot be of 
long continuance. While they are dissipating their 
strength and wasting their blood in mutual struggles 
for mutual destruction, xve should play the part of 
the sagacious and industrious bee ; we should suck 
the honey from the lily and the rose, and come home 
loaded with the riches. 

At peace, France will turn her attention to the 
acquisition of " ships, colonies, and commerce."* 
Can she do so without alarming England ? Colonies 
and commerce, according to European policy, must 
be protected by a military fleet. The progress of a 
French military fleet will be jealously watched by the 
British government ; and when by its growth it shall 
have become, or threatens to become menacing to 

* Ib Lotdsiana to be one of the intended colonies? 



22 

iIk; safety of Enj^lancl, it will be attacked and demo- 
lished. This policy and war are inevitable, unless, 
in time of peace, France will relinquish, and she will 
not, ships, colonies, and commerce. In all future 
wars between France and England, dwhig the life 
of Napoleon^ the European continent, probably with- 
out exception, will be involved. 

We must then, perhaps sixty of every one hun- 
dred years, if we can preserve peace during the con- 
flicts of the two nations, be the great carrier of the 
commerce of the world ; and our industry and re- 
sources, every day increasing, will enable us to be so 
to the gratification of our utmost hopes. 

Look back to our small beginning, view our pre- 
sent situation, and contemplate, by comparison, our 
future prospects. We can do so agreeably by re- 
curring to the progress of our revenue, which has 
increased with the increase of our population and in- 
dustry, and in which we see our influit state pleasing- 
ly and gradually advancing from creeping to walking, 
and from walking to the fullest speed of manhood. 

From the establishment of the present 

government in March, 1789, to Dec. ' 

31, 1791, the duties on imports and 
tonnage amounted to 54,399,000, 
yielding an annual average of about 82,000,000 

In 1792, the duties on imports and ton- 
nage were 3,579,000 

In 1793, 4,344,000 

In 1794, 4,843,000 



^3 

In 1795, 5,588,000 

I'^ 1796, 5,770,000 

In 1801, about 10,000,000 

In 1805, more than 12,000,000 

(exclusive of the Mediterranean fund.) 
And now the President tells us in his ^ 

message, that the receipts in the trea- 
sury for the year 1806, amount to 
816,000,000, of which it is probable 
that merchandize and tonnage have 
yielded 14,000,000 

Some additional duty and rates has been laid, but 
nothing worth noticing in viewing the vast increase 
of revenue from those sources. 

In ten years, namely, from 1796, to 1806, the re- 
venue from the two sources has increased, we may 
safely say, nearly a hundred per cent ; and the in- 
crease of population during the same time has been 
fifty per cent. 

What would ten years more of tranquillity give us 
in population and revenue ? What a boundless and 
delightful prospect does a continued peace open to 
our view ! The present situation of Europe, or any 
other which may take place ; an European peace, 
could but little, if at all, affect the increase of our po- 
pulation by new acquisitions from abroad ; and it 
could not very sensibly vary the revenue derived 
from the two sources mentioned. 

Turn to the excellent application bv our govern- 
ment, of this increased revenue. 



24 

The war of the Revolution incur- 
red a debt [funded] of S69, 740,366 27 

Increase of the debt from 1790 to 

1800,* 9,462,264 88 



Amount of the public debt when 

the present administration came 

into power,* 79,202,631 15 

Extinguished of the principal of the 

funded debt by the present admi- 

nistration,t 25,500,000 

And there is now in the treasury 

i^nappropriatcd,! 8,500,000 

Who then, unless to revenge a great national out- 
rage, like that committed on the Chesapeake, al- 
though right as to impressments is with us, would 
change our peaceful and prosperous state for the de- 
moralizing and destructive one of war ? 

But, if we are to have war, let it be a vigorous, a 
hearty, an effectual war. 

" In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man 
" As modest stillness, and humility ; 
" But when the blast of war blows in our ears, 
" Then imitate the action of the tyger." 

Shakspeare. 

Our internal resources, untouched, are equal to 
any emergency, and the credit of government has no 
limit but its own will. We are a rich mine, from 
which nothing has been extracted, but from which all 

• Gallatin on Finance. f President's Message. 



^5 

that we want may be drawn. We have no internal 
taxes. For that reason we can better bear, and will 
j with the utmost ehcerfiilness pay, whatever the exi- 
gencies of the g^overnment may require. While 
England, while all Europe, is gasping beneath the 
weight of enormous burdens, it is our felicity alone 
<o be exempt from direct taxation. 

I have elsewhere said, that the first six months of 
the war, if terrible at all, would be most terrible to 
us. The policy of England is to make war, and then 
to declare it. Our merchants would most sensibly 
feel an embargo in British ports, and the sensation 
would momentarily tingle through every nerve of the 
state. Our commerce, in a war with a naval power 
so formidable, although not wholly stopped, would 
be materially interrupted. But, besides embargo- 
ing our ships in her ports, and interrupting our com- 
merce on the ocean, could England essentially af- 
fect us ? 

The ravages of the revolutionary war, are the last 
she will commit in the interior of our country. Fifty 
thousand of her veteran troops landed on our shores, 
would, barring a precipitate retreat, immediately rest 
from their labours. She has nothing to hope from 
the interior. She would not obtrude a soldier on our 
soil, except in some sequestered part of our shore, 
where paucity of inhabitants might give impunity to 
plunder. 

But, in one or two of our sea-ports, she might give. 
us some trouble, although she could not land. 

The first duty of a state, to which, however, Coiir 

n 



^ 



26 

grcbs has paid but little attention, is to place itself ia 
a state ol" safety against attacks from without. I will 
not stoop to answer the stupid remark, which, unac- 
companied by any thing like argument, has been a 
thousand times repeated, that we cannot, by any sys- 
tem of defence, protect a coast of two thousand miles 
in extent. We can, if Congress will afford us the 
means, defend New- York, the commercial metropo- 
lis of the Union, and the depot of the great wealth of 
this state, against all the efforts of the British navy. 
In like manner, Charleston and Norfolk, and all the 
other ports in th€ Union, may be placed in such a 
state of defence as will enable their intrepid inhabi- 
tants to save themselves, and in saving themselves, 
save the honour of their country. 

Still, neglected as we have been, we are prepared 
to repel aggression. The British fleet might iijure 
us, but it could gain no advantage. 

Such is the utmost extent to which Great Britain 
could carry on a war against us. Within, we should 
be tranquil, and without, although our commerce 
would be interrupted on the ocean, that of England 
would not be unvcxed. 

For the expenses of the war, we might partially 
compensate ourselves by the capture of Nova Scotia 
and the Canadas ; and the cor,quest would give us 
but little trouble. Quebec, separated fiom the cir- 
cumjacent country, which \\c can easily possess and 
hold, must ultimately fall without a blow. 

Such a conquest is desirable. It would be greatly 
ndvantageous to u!r, and essentially injure England. 



27 

It would he advantageous to us in reference to the 
Indians, who now excited to imfriendly acts by the 
British government or by British traders, would be 
peaceful neighbours ; gradually forsake their savage 
customs, tmn their attention to agriculture, and be- 
come civilized. It seems to be the policy of the 
trade and government of England, to make the sa- 
vages, if possible, more savage. 

Driven from Nova Scotia and the Canadas, Eng- 
land could have no pretence, during her wars with 
her European neighbours, for stationing on our 
coast a large naval force. 

The fur trade of those places would be acceptable. 
We are now under the necessity of importing from 
England, beaver and other furs for our own con- 
sumption. 

But, without enumerating the many benefits we 
should derive from the capture of the British pos- 
sessions, the loss of them to England would be irre- 
parable. If the opinion of Odd y be correct, it 
would menace the existence of the British navy. 

From this celebrated author, who first published 
his great commercial work in London in 1805, dedi- 
cated to the " lords of the committee of the privy 
" council, appointed for the consideration of all mnt- 
" ters relating to trade and foreign plantations," the 
succeeding passages are copied from pages 540 and 
41. Quarto Ed. Lond. 

" The high prices we are paying for timber, in the 
" countries around the Baltic, is not because they 
" conceive us totally dependent upon them for th^ 



2a 

^ article, but because their stocks are so greatly di- 
*' minishcd as to cause a want amongst themselves^ 
" which we have seen by the conduct of Russia ; the 
" price consequently is advanced. To this is to be ad- 
" ded the heavier ex|x;nse in bringing it from remote 
" quarters, distant from inland navigation ; so that, if 
** our demand continues as it has done, for a few 
" years, we shall scarcely receive any but at so high a 
" price that we must of necessity resort elsewhere. 
" It is a happy circumstance for this country, that 
*' we have a sufficient supply in our American pos- 
" sessions, which the interest of individuals will now 
^* bring forth : the beginning is made, and the im- 
*' portation from thence greatly increasing every 
" year. The high price we pay for what we import 
" from the Baltic, the carrying it to our own ports in 
*' their ships, and the duties paid here on foreign 
" timber, and none from our own possessions, are 
" considerations for the merchants and ship-owners, 
*' which make this an object of material importance. 
" This we shall more particularly describe under the 
*' head of shipping ; so that the result is, that we 
*' can now supply ourselves cheaper, from our own 
'* possessions in America, than we can from the 
'' Baltic. 

*' The British colonies in North America, of great- 
" est extent, arc Upper and Lower Canada, New 
" Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which are but thinly 
*' inhai)ited, particularly New Brunswick. They 
** are covered with immense forests of trees, tlie 



2^ 

** greater part of which arc pine ; the sort of wood 
" in most general iibe. 

. " These provinces, from the straits of Belisle to 
" the bay, which separates ihcm from the state of 
" IVLissachusetts, are intersected with bays and in- 
" lets of the sea, navigable rivers and branches for 
" small craft, and for rafting and floating down tim- 
'' bcr. I'he whole coast, from Casco bay to the 
" above-mentioned straits^ is lined with harbours, 
" where vessels of any size may load in safety ; 
" some of which are spacious enough to contain all 
'' the navy of Great Britain. 

" Among other navigable rivers we may mention 
" the St. Lawrence, in Canada ; the St. John, Mi- 
*' ramichi, and Sr. Croix, in New Brunswick ; Pic- 
" tou, La Have, and Annapolis, in Nova Scotia; 
*' from all of which quantities of timber have been, 
" and may be exported to Great Britain. 

" In the state of Massachusetts, particularly 
" the district known by the name of the province 
*' of Main, which includes the country from Casco 
" bay to the British lines at Passamaquoddy, are 
"many large navigable rivers, and a great extent 
" of country covered with wood. The ports hi- 
" therto most frequented in that district are, Wis- 
*' casset, Penobscot, Portland, Machiers, and 
" Frenchman's bay, but there are many more har- 
" bours of less repute, where ships of burden may 
*' load in safety. 

" The principal ports in Nova Scotia for loading 
" timber, are, Pictou, Guysbourg and La Have. 



. 30 

*' The I'ormer is situated within the Gut of Cunso, 
*' soutli of Prince Edward, formerly St. John's Isl- 
" and, and of course is shut after the frost sets in, 
" and not open in {general before April or May. 

*' There has been a considerable quantity of tim- 
*' ber exported of late from this river ; but the size 
" of the pines is not so large, nor is there so great 
" an extent of interior as in Canada or New Bruns- 
" wick. 

" Guysbourg is in Chadcbucts bay, without the 
" Gut of Cunso ; but being few settlers in the ncigh- 
" bourhood, there has not been much timber ex- 
" ported from it. La Have is a feu' leagues to the 
" westw-ard of Halifax harbour, and is accessible at 
" all seasons. But the rivers St. John, Miramichi, 
" and St. Croix, in New Brunswick, are navigable, 
*^' some of them 100 miles, and furnish the greatest 
'' quantities of pine, and other timber for the British 
" market."-^ 

* Ckldy pays to the United States many constrained compli- 
ments, lie says, pages 602 and 605 : — " When then our 
" existence, as a great and powerful nation, depends upon 
" our navy, and when our shipping is the nursery for that 
" navy, every protection and facility should be given to pro- 
" mote it ; every restraint or burthen to discourage it should 
" be done away. It is a floating, insecure property of indivi- 
" duals, always precarious and liable to loss ; it therefore re- 
" quires the fostering aid of government, when we liave near 
" us, at home, competitors like the northern nations ; and 
" acros.vsthe Atlantic, the Americans, whose enterprizing spirit 
" and vigilance is making head in a more formidable manner 
" than we are aware ; but her example is worthy of our imita- 
" tion. 



,3L 

If it be true, and wljy should we doubt it ? that 
the high price paid for timber in the countries around 
the Bakic, is because their stocks are so greatly di- 
minished as to cause a xvant among themselves^ it is, 
indeed, as Mr. Oddy remarks, a happy circumstance 
for England^ that she has a sufficient supply in her 
American possessions ; but how unhappy would it be 
for her if her conduct should compel the United States 
to DEPRIVE HER OF it! If England does not al- 
ready know, it may be well to inform her, that the 
state of Vermont alone, in which the brave Gen. 

" This country has more to fear from America supplanting 
" our shipping, than to apprehend from the shipping of all Eu- 
" rope. It is in the north of this quarter of the globe that the 
*' chief materials for ship-building are to be had reasonable, and 
" in abundance. 

" Then look to America, behold her situation, and the flat- 
" tering prospects she has in view ; prospects, indeed, which 
" call forth all our wisdom, energy, and good management. 
" \V'e should look at home, to adopt those measures which can 
" secure the extension of our own shipping. In no more than 
" ten years, the shipping of America has increased equal to 
" the whole aggregate tonnage of the northern states of the 
" continent of Europe. 

" The AmericcUis are an active, enterprizing, spirited, and 
" commercial people ; the political situation of Europe has 
" given them advantages throughout the world, to enrich theni- 
" selves, and to create a power that Europe may soon feel ; 
" their neutrality enables them to enter into competition with us 
" in every market on the globe, on their own account, whilst 
" we arc obliged to employ them as carriers on ours. Tiiey 
« have timber very reasonable, and most other stores, within 
" themselves; labour alone is dear, but that by no means coun- 
*' terbalunces the other advantages 'm favour of America." 



• 32 

Stark yet lives, is more than competent to the cap- 
ture of her " possessions in North Americii." 

I will conclude with briefly noticino: one of the 
very many errors contained in the pamphlet of the 
" Yankee Farmer." 

In pages 36 and 37, lie says — " But lastly, we are 
*' to starve her West- India colonies. It is really 
*' astonishing, that men will be found so blinded by 
" their hatred to Great Britain, as to urge and appear 
" to believe such absurd notions, ffhi/ did they not 
" starve during the revolutionary war? Nova Scotia 
" then supplied them with little or nothing ; she can 
*' supply them with nearly all they want.'*'' 

And what follows? Why, that if Nova Scotia can 
now supply the British West- Indies with " nearly all 
they want," the capture of Nova Scotia, in case we 
are compelled to resort to arms, is of much greater 
importance than we had imagined, and would really 
and greatly distress the enemy. 

Let me now tell the *' Yankee Farmer" that he 
errs when he says that the British West-Indies were 
7iot starved during the revolutionary war. 

Lord Temple, in his speech in the house of com- 
mons. May 22, 1806, on the " American intercourse 
" bill," says— 

" Owing to the interruptions of the intercourse of 
" the colonies and the United States of America, 
" during the American war, it had been ascertained 
*' that aI)out 15,000 negroes had died for want, or 
*' from being improperly fed, in the island of Jamaica 
*' alone, m the course of six years." Cobbett's Par- 
liamentary Debates, Vol. VII. p. 338. 



33 

It has then been ascertainecL that 2.500 negroes 
had annually perished for waiit in the island (.f Ja- 
maica alone, for six years successively. 

If Coni^ress, after deliberately taking all tliijigs 
into consideration, should call forth the arm of the 
country to vindicate its ri,u;hts, the decision will be 
eheerfuUy, imanimously, and nobly supported. 



THE END. 



£ 



34 



PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. 

To the Soiale.) and 

House of Re/iresetilalivcs, of the United States. 

CIRCUMSTANCES, fellow-citizens, which seriously threat- 
ened the peace of our country, have made it a duty to convene 
you at an earlier period than usual. The love of peace so much 
cherished in the bosom of our citizens, which has so long guid- 
ed the proceedings of their public councils, and induced for- 
bearance under so many wrongs, may not ensure our continu- 
ance in the quiet pursuits of industry. The many injuries and 
depredations committed on our commerce and navigation upon 
the high seas, for years past, the successive innovations on those 
principles of public law, which have been established by the 
reason and usage of nations, as the rule of their intercourse, and 
the umpire and security of their rights and peace, and all the 
circumstances which induced the extraordinary mission to Lon- 
don, are already known to you. The instructions given to our 
ministers were framed in the sincerest spirit of amity and mode- 
ration. They accordingly proceeded, in conformity therewith^ 
to propose arrangements which migiit embrace and settle all the 
points in difference between us, which might bring us to a 
mutual understanding on our neutral and national rights, and 
provide for a commercial intercourse on conditions of some 
equality. After long and fruitless endeavours to eftect the pur- 
poses of their mission, and to obtain arrangements within the 
limits of their instructions, they concluded to sign such as 
could be obtained, and to send them for consideration, candidly 
declaring to the other negotiators, that they were acting against 
their instructions, and that their government, therefore, could 
not be pledged for ratification. Some of the articles proposed, 
might have been admitted on a principle of compromise, but 
othere were too highly disadvantageous, and no sufllcient pro- 
vision wae made i4;ainbt tlie principal source of the iriitations 



85 

alid collisions which were constantly endnngerinj^ the peace of 
thv" two nations. The question, therefore, whether a treaty 
should he accepted in that form, could have admitted but of ong 
decision, even had no declaration of the other party impaired 
our confidence in it. Still anxious not to close the door against 
friendly adjustment, new modifications were framed, and further 
concessions authorised, than could bt-fore have been supposed 
necessary, and our ministers were instructed to resume their ne. 
gotiations on these grounds. 

On this new reference to amicable discussion, we were repos- 
ing in confidence, when on the 22d day of June last, by a for. 
mal order from a British admiral, the frigate Chesapeake, leav- 
ing her port for a distant service, was attacked by one of those 
vessels which had been lying in our harbours under the indul- 
gences of hospitality, was disabled from proceeding, had several 
of her crew killed, and four taken away. On this outrage no 
commentaries are necessary. Its character has been pronoun- 
ced by the indignant voice of our citizens with an emphasis and 
unanimity never exceeded. I immediately by proclamation, in- 
terdicted our harbours and waters to all British armed vessels, for- 
bade intercourse with them, and uncertain how far hostilities 
were intended, and the town of Norfolk indeed being threatened 
with immediate attack, a sufficient force was ordered for the 
protection of that place, and such other preparations commenced 
and pursued as the prospect rendered proper. An armed ves- 
sel of the United States was dispatched with instructions to our 
ministers at London, to call on that government for the satisfac- 
tion and security required by the outrage. A very short inter- 
val ought now to bring the answer, which shall be communica- 
ted to you as soon as received : then also, or as soon after as the 
public interests shall be found to admit, the unratified treaty 
and proceedings relative to it, shall be made known to you. 

The aggression thus begun, has been continued on the part of 
the British commanders, by remaining within our waters, in de- 
fiance of the authority of the country, by habitual violation» of 



36 

its jiiiisiUction, and at lenp;th by putting to death one of the 
persons whom they had forcibly taken from on board the Chesa- 
]>eiike. These a<>gravations necessarily lead to the policy either 
of never admitting ai\ armed vessel into our harbours, or of 
maintaining in every harbour such an armed force as may con- 
strain obedience to the laws, and protect the lives and property 
of our citizens against their armed guests ; but the expense of 
such a standing force, and its inconsistence with our principles, 
dispense with those courtesies which would necessarily call for 
it, and leave us equally free to exclude the navy, as we are the 
army of a foreign power, from entering our limits. 

To former violations of maritime rights, another is now added 
of very extensive effect. The government of that nation has 
issued an order interdicting all trade by neutrals between ports 
not in amity with them, and being now at war with nearly every 
nation on the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, our vessels are 
required to sacrifice their cargoes at the first port they touch, or 
to return home without the benefit of going to any other market. 
Under this new law of the ocean, our trade on the Mediterra- 
nean has been swept by seizures and condemnations, and that in 
other seas is threatened with the same fate. 

Our differences with Spain remain still unsettled, no m'.asure 
having been taken on her part, since my last communications to 
Congress, to bring them to a close. But under a state of things 
which rnay favour reconsideration, they have been recently press- 
ed, and an expectation is entertained they may now soon be 
brought to an issue of some sort. With their subjects on our 
borders, no new collisions have taken place, nor seem imme- 
.diately tobe apprehended. To our former grounds of complaint 
has been added a very serious one, as you Vvill see by the decree, 
•a copy of which is now communicated. Whether this decree, 
which professes to be conformable to that of the French govern- 
ment of November 21, 1806, heretofore communicated to Con- 
gress, will also be conformed to that in its construction and ap- 
p'-i^^ation in relation to the United States, had not been ascertained 



37 

at the date of our last communications. These, however, gave 
reason to expect sucii a coiirormhy. 

AVith the other nations of Kurope our harmony has been unin- 
terrupted, and commerce and friendly intercourse have been 
maintained on their usual footin<j. 

Our peace with the several states on the coast of Barbary ap- 
pears as firm as at any former period, and as likely to continue 
as that of any other nation. 

Among our Indian neighbours, in the north-western quarter, 
some fermentation was observed soon after the late occurrences 
threatening the continuance of our peace. Messages were said 
to be interchanged, and tokens to be passing, which usually de- 
note a state of restlessness among them, and the cliaracter of 
the a^-jitators pointed to the sources of excitement. iM>.asures 
Were immediately taken for providing against that danger ; in- 
structions were given to require explanations, and, with assur- 
ances of our coniiiRied friendship, to admonish the tribes to re- 
main quiet at home, taking no part in quarrels not belonging to 
them. As far as we are yet informed, tiie tribes in our vicinity, 
who are most advanced in the pursuits of industry, are sincerely 
disposed to adhere to their friendship with us, and to their peace 
with all others. While those more ren.ott, do not present ap- 
pearances sufficiently quiet to justify the intermission of milita- 
ry precaution on our part. 

The great tribes on our south-western quarter, much advanced 
beyond the others in agriculture and housenold arts, appear 
trancjuil and identify their views with ours in propoition to their 
advancements. With the whole of these people in ev.ry quar- 
ter, I sliall contiuue to inculcate peace and friendship with all 
their neighbours, and perseverance in those occupations and 
pursuits which will best promote their own well being. 

Tiie appropriations of the last session, for the defence of our 
sea-port towns and harbours, were made under expectations, tliat 
a continuance of our peace would permit us to proceed in that 
work according to our convenience. It has been tiiought better 
to apply the sums then given towards the defence of New-York, 
Charleston and New-Orleans chiclly, as most open and most 



5» 

likely first (o need protection, and to leave places less imme- 
diately in danger to the provisions of the present session. 

Tlie gun-boats too already provided, have, on a like principle, 
been chiefly assigned to New-York, New-Orleans and the Che- 
sapeake. Whether our moveable force on the water, so material 
in aid of the defensive works on the land, should be augmented in 
this or any other form, is left to the wisdom of tlie lec^islalure. 
For the purpose of manning these vessels, in sudden attacks on 
our harbours, it is a matter for consideration whether the seamen 
of the United States may not justly be formed into a special mi- 
litia, to be called on for tours of duty, in defence of the harbours 
where they happen to be, the ordinary militia of the place fur- 
nishing that portion which may consist of landsmen. 

The moment our peace was threatened, I deemed it indispen- 
sable to secure a greater provision of those articles of military 
stores, with which our magazines were not sufficiently furnish- 
ed ; to have awaited a previous and special sanction by law, 
would have lost occasions which might not be retrieved. I did not 
hesitate, therefore, to authorise engagements for such supple- 
ments to our existing, stock, as would render it adequate to the 
emergencies threatening us ; and I trust that the legislature, 
feeling the same anxiety for the safety of our country, so mate- 
rially advanced by this precaution, will approve when done, what 
they would have seen so important to be done, if then assembled. 
Expenses, also unprovided for, arose out of the necessity of call- 
ing all our gun-boats into actual service, for the defence of our 
harbours, of all which accounts will be laid before you. 

Whether a regular army is to be raised, and to what extent, 
must depend on the information so shortly expected. In the 
mean time, I have called on the states for quotas of militia to be 
in readiness for present defence ; and have, moreover, encour- 
aged the acceptance of volunteers, and I am happy to inform 
you, that tiiese have offered themselves with great alacrity in 
every part of the union ; they are ordered to be organized, and 
ready at a moment's warning, to proceed on any service to 
wliich they may be called, and every preparation within the 



59 

executive powers, has been made to ensure us the benefit c£ 
early exertions. 

I informed Congress at their last session, of the entcrprizes 
against the public peace, which were believed to be in prepara- 
tion by Aaron Burr, and his associates, of the measures taken 
10 defeat them, and to bring the offenders to justice. Their en- 
lerprizes were happily defeated, by the patriotic exertions of the 
militia, whenever called into action, by the fidelity of the army, 
and energy of the commander in chief, in promptly arranging 
the difficulties presenting themselves on the Sabine, repairing to 
meet those arising on the Mississippi, and dissipating, before 
their explosion, plots engendered there. I shall think it my duty to 
lay before you the proceedings and the evidence pubUcly exhibit- 
ed on the arraignment of the principal offenders before the dis- 
trict court of Virginia : you will be enabled to judge whether the 
defect was in the testimony, in the law, or in the administration 
of the law ; and wherever it shall be found, the legislature alone 
can apply or originate the remedy. The framers of our con- 
stitution certainly supposed they had guarded, as well their gov- 
ernment, against destruction by treason, as their citizens against 
oppression under pretence of it ; and if these ends are not attain- 
ed, it is of importance to inquire by what means more effectually 
they may be secured. 

The accounts of the receipts of revenue during the year end- 
ing on the 30th day of September last, being not yet made up, a 
correct statement will be hereafter transmitted from the treasury : 
in the mean time it is ascertained that the receipts have amount- 
ed to near sixteen millions of dollars, which, with the five millions 
and a half in the treasury at the beginning of the year, have ena- 
bled us, after meeting the current demands, and interest incur- 
red, to pay more than four millions of the principal of our fund- 
ed debt. These payments, with those of the preceding five and 
a half years, have extinguished of the funded debt, twenty-five 
millions and a half of dollars, being the wliole which could be 
paid or purchased within the limits of the law, and of our con- 
tracts, and have left us in tlie treasury eight millions and u half 
of dollars. A portion of this sum may be considered as a com- 



40 

mencement of accumulation of the surplusscs of rt- venue, which, 
after paying the instalments of debt as they shall become payable, 
will remain without any specific object. It may partly, indeed, 
be applied towards compleatinsj the defence of the exposed points 
of our country, on such a scale as shall be adapted to our princi- 
ples and circu nstances. This object is, doubtless, amonp^ the 
first entitled to attention, in such a state of our finances : and it 
is one which, whether we have peace or war, will provide secu- 
rity where it is due. Whether what shall remain of this, with the 
future surplusses may be usefully applied to purposes already au- 
thorised, or more usefully toothers requiring new authorities, or 
how otherwise they shall be disposed of, are questions calling 
for the notice of Congress : unless indeed they shall be supersed. 
edby a change in our public relations now awaiting the determina- 
tion of others. Whatever be that determination, it is a great con- 
solation that it will become known at a moment when the suprtme 
council of the nation is assembled at its post, and ready to give 
the aids of its wisdom and authority to whatever course the good 
of our country shall then call on us to pursue. 

blatters of minor importance will be the subjects of future 
communications ; and nothing shall be wanting on my part, which 
may give information or dispatch to the proceedings of the legis- 
lature, in the exercise of their high duties, and at a moment so 
interesting to the public welfare. 

TH : JEFFERSON. 

Tuesday, October 27th, 1807. 



41 



DOCUMENTS 

Accompanying the Message of the President of the United 
States, to the two Houses of Congress, at the opening of the 
first session of the tenth Congress. 

No. I. 

■M)te communicated by Lord Honvick to Mr. Munroe, dated January 

10///, 1807. 

The undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of state for 
foreign affairs, has received his majesty's commands to acquaint 
Mr. Monroe, that the French government having issued certain 
orders, which, in violation of the usages of war, purport to pro- 
hibit the commerce of all neutral nations with his majesty's do- 
minions, and also to prevent such nations from trading with any 
other country in any articles, the growth, produce, or manufac- 
ture of his majesty's dominions. And the said government 
having also taken upon itself to declare his majesty's dominions 
to be in a state of blockade, at a time when the fleets of France 
and her allies are themselves confined within their own ports, by 
the superior valour and discipline of the British navy. 

Such attempts on the pai't of the enemy, giving to his majesty 
an unquestionable right of retaliation, and warranting his ma- 
jesty in enforcing the same prohibition of all commerce with 
France, which that power vainly hopes to effect against the com- 
merce of his majesty's subjects, a prohibition which the supe- 
riority of his majesty's naval forces might enable him to support, 
by actually investing the ports and coasts of the enemy with nu- 
merous squadrons and cruisers, so as to make the entrance or 
approach thereto manifestly dangerovis. 

His majesty, though unwilling to follow the example of his 
enemies, by proceeding to an extremity so distressing to all na- 
tions not engaged in the war, and carrying on their accustomed 
trade ; yet feels himself bound by a due regard to the just de- 
fence of the rights and interest of his people, not to suffer such 
measures t9 be taken by the enemy, without taking some steps 

F 



42 

on his part, to restrain this violence, and to retort upon them 
the evils of tlieir own injustice. Mr. Munroe is therefore re- 
quested to apprize the American consuls and merchants residing 
in England, that his majesty has there-forejudged it expedient to 
order, that no vessels shall be permitted to trade from one port 
to another, both which ports sliall belong to, or be in possession 
of France or her allies, or shall be so far under their controul, as 
British vessels may not freely trade thereat ; and tliat the com- 
manders of his majesty's ships of war and privateers have been 
instructed to warn every neutral vessel coming from any such 
port, and destined to another such port, to discontinue her 
voyage, and not to proceed to any such port ; and every vessel 
after being so warned, or any vessel coming from any such port, 
after a reasonable time sliall have been afforded for receiving in- 
fbrmation of this his majesty's order, which shall be found 
proceeding to another such port, shall be captured and brought 
in, and, together with her cargo, shall be condemned as lawful 
prize : and that from this time, all the measures authorised by 
the law of nations, and the respective treaties between his ma- 
jesty and tlie different neutral powers, will be adopted and exe- 
cuted witli respect to vessels attempting to violate the said order 
after this notice. 



HOWICK. 



Downing-Streetj January 10, 1807. 



No. II. 
SPANISH DECREE. 

TRANSLATION'. 

By the greatest outrage against humanity, and against policy, 
Spain was forced by Great Britain to take part in the present 
war. This power has exercised over the sea and over the com- 
merce of the world, an exclusive dominion. Her numerous 
factories, disseminated through all countries, are like sponges 
which imbibe the riches of those countiics, without leaving 
them more than appearances of mercantile liberty. From this 
maritime and commercial despotism, England derives great re- 
sources for tarrying on a v ar, whose object is to destroy the 



43 

eonimcrcc which belongs to each state from its industry and 
bituulion. Experience lias proven, that the morality of the Bri« 
tish cabinet has no hesitation as to the means, so long as they 
lead to the accomplislmient of its desij^ns ; and whilst this power 
can continue to enjoy the fruits of its immense traflic, humanily 
will groan under tlie weight of a desolating war. To put an end 
to this, and to attain a solid peace, the emperor of the Fi-ench 
and king of Italy issued a decree on the 2 1st of November last, 
in which, adopting the principle of reprisals, the blockade ofihe 
British isles is determined on ; and l.is ambassador, his excel- 
lency Francis de Beauharnois, grand dignitary of the order of 
tlie iron crown, of the legion of honour, &c. Sec. having com- 
municated this decree to the king our master, and his majesty 
being desirous to co-operate !)y means sanctioned by the rights 
of recipi'ocity, has been pleased to authorise his most serene 
highness the prince generalissimo of the marine, to issue a cir- 
cular of the follov.ing tenor. 

As soon as England committed the horrible outrage of inter- 
cepting the vessels of the royal marine, insidiously violating the 
good faith with which peace assures individual property and the 
rights of nations ; his majesty considered himself in a slate of 
war with that power, although his royal soul suspended the pro- 
mulgation of the manifesto until he saw the atrocity committed 
by its seamen, sanctioned by the govemment of London. From 
that time, and without the necessity of warning the inhabitants 
of these kingdoms of the circumspection with which they ought 
to conduct themselves towards those of a country wliich disre- 
gards the sacred laws of property and the rights of nations ; his 
majesty made known to his subjects the state of war in which 
he found himself with that nation. All trade, all commerce is 
prohibited in such a situation ; and no sentiments ought to be 
entertained towards such an enemy which are not dictated by 
honour, avoiding all intercourse which might be considered as 
the vile efiect of avarice, operating on the subjects of a nation 
which degrades itself by them. 

His majesty is well persuaded that such sentiments of honour 
are rooted in the hearts of his beloved subjects ; but he dges not 



44 

chooHe, on that account, to allow the smallest indulgence to the 
violators of the law, nor permit that, through ignorance,, they 
should be taken by surprize — authorising me by these presents 
to declare that all English property will be confiscated whenever 
it is found on board a vessel, although a neutral, if the consign- 
ment belongs to Spanish individuals. So likewise will be confis- 
cated all merchandize which may be met with, although it may- 
be in neutral vessels, whenever it is destined for the ports of 
England or her isles. 

And finally his majesty, conforming himself to the ideas of 
his ally, the emperor of the French, declares in his states the 
same law, which, from principles of reciprocity and suitable 
respect, his imperial majesty promulgated under date of the 2 1st 
November, 1806. 

The execution of this determination of his majestj^elongs to 
the chiefs of provinces, of departments, and of vessels, (baxeles) 
and communicating it to them in the name of his majesty, I hope 
they will leave no room for the royal displeasure. 
God preserve you many years, 
(Signed) 
The Prince Generalissimo of the Marine, 

Aranjuez, I9th February, 1807. 



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